Social Loafing: A Field Investigation

Journal of Management, 30: 285-304, 2004

20 Pages Posted: 13 Feb 2014

See all articles by Robert C Liden

Robert C Liden

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Managerial Studies

Sandy Wayne

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Managerial Studies

Renata Jaworski

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Managerial Studies

Nathan Bennett

Georgia Institute of Technology - Organizational Behavior Area; J. Mack Robinson College of Business

Date Written: April 1, 2004

Abstract

Social loafing was investigated by testing a multilevel model among 23 intact work groups comprised of 168 employees representing two organizations. Results demonstrated that as hypothesized at the individual level, increases in task interdependence and decreases in task visibility and distributive justice were associated with greater occurrence of social loafing. At the group level, increased group size and decreased cohesiveness were related to increased levels of social loafing. Of particular interest was the finding that group member perceptions of perceived coworker loafing was associated with reduced social loafing, opposite of our predictions. We suggested that this unexpected finding may provide evidence of a social compensation effect.

Suggested Citation

Liden, Robert C and Wayne, Sandy and Jaworski, Renata and Bennett, Nathan, Social Loafing: A Field Investigation (April 1, 2004). Journal of Management, 30: 285-304, 2004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2394367

Robert C Liden

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Managerial Studies ( email )

601 S. Morgan St. (M/C 243)
University Hall 2203
Chicago, IL 60607-7122
United States

Sandy Wayne

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Managerial Studies ( email )

601 S. Morgan St. (M/C 243)
University Hall 2203
Chicago, IL 60607-7122
United States

Renata Jaworski

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Managerial Studies ( email )

601 S. Morgan St. (M/C 243)
University Hall 2203
Chicago, IL 60607-7122
United States

Nathan Bennett (Contact Author)

Georgia Institute of Technology - Organizational Behavior Area ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States

J. Mack Robinson College of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 4050
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
United States

HOME PAGE: http://nate-bennett.com

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